John Bowman founded the
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, a publicly chartered department of
Kentucky
University, as a land-grant university in 1865. The first degree from A&M was awarded in 1869. In
1878, A&M separated from Kentucky University, which is now Transylvania University. For the new school, the city of
Lexington donated a 52 acre (210,000 m²) park and fair ground, which became the core of
UK's present campus. The modern campus covers 670 acres (2.7 km²).The college was initially for men only, but women were admitted beginning in 1880. The
first female degree recipient was Belle Gunn in 1888. The school's name was changed to
"State University, Lexington, Kentucky" in 1908, then to "University of Kentucky" in
1916. The University of Kentucky became racially integrated in 1949 when Lyman T. Johnson, a black man, won a lawsuit to be admitted to the graduate program. Undergraduate classes
desegregated in 1954.